Straddling

Picture yourself across a deep gorge, just wide enough for you to straddle, with one foot on each side. Suddenly you notice that in miniscule movements that gorge is widening. You feel the pull on your inner thighs. How long can you do this before you have to choose which side you should stand upon? The gap widens even more, and more…

On one side is the Holy, on the other is the world. It seems nowadays with the world wide web that gap in between is not only deepening but widening. The world says to be who you want, even at the cost of family and friends. “It’s your life, man. That’s all there is, so live it to the fullest.” But God says, “I gave my life for you. Give me yours and I will give you peace and eternal life.”

Jesus told his disciples that the world would not understand them if they followed Him because He was not of this world. We are called to live in this world, yet not to succumb to its ways. The more ungodly, global and secular this age becomes, the harder it is for Christians to straddle the gap. We are pulled and stretched to the limit. And it hurts!

How do we straddle the divide? I say we can’t. The only way to exist in this world is to let Jesus hold us as He stands in it. He has bridged the gap. Let us rest in the arms of our Savior, and call others to climb up into them as well.